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Zongmi's "Three Phrases":

According to Li-tai fa-pao chi, Wu-hsiang taught the "three phrases" which he called the "all-inclusive teaching." The three phrases are no-remembering (wu-i), no-thought (wu-nien), and no-forgetting (mo-wang); they were taken by Wu-hsiang to correspond to the three main aspects of traditional Buddhist practice: Sila, samadhi, and prajna. Tsung-mi describes this teaching as follows: "As to the three phrases, they are no-remembering, no thought, and no-forgetting. [Their function is] to cause the mind to abandon the memory of past events and to stop worrying about the vicissitudes of the future, so that it will always conform to this understanding without any confusion or mistake. This is what is called no-forgetting. Again, not remembering external objects and not thinking of the mind within, one should cultivate this without any attachment. The order of sila, samadhi, and prajna corresponds to the order of the three phrases. Though they used many expedients in their teaching, in their essential meaning they were all included within the three phrases."


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